Gemma Woldendorp and Natasha Sebire
Climbers
Natasha and Gemma teamed up in 1999 to form a climbing partnership that has gone from strength to strength. Combining Natasha's wild ideas and tenacity, with Gemma's versatility and sense of humour, their climbing ventures are always interesting and exciting undertakings. Their passion lies in adventurous climbing - exploring rarely visited areas in wild and remote places, where the possibility exists for discovering climbing routes and peaks that no-one has climbed before.
Some of their climbing activities include:
- Indian Himalaya 2008 – climbing new routes in the Miyar Valley, including the first ascent of 'Nazomi Peak' (5300m) by an 800m free route (grade 17); the first ascent of 'Triple Crown' (5800m) by a 1000m mountaineering route (AD+, 70º); and a new rock route (grade 13) on James Point (4965m).
- Yosemite 2007 – free- and aid-climbing in Yosemite Valley, California, most notably, climbing 'Zodiac' on El Capitan with paraplegic Karen Darke and UK climber Andy Kirkpatrick.
- Greenland 2006 – Gemma and Natasha accessed a remote and unclimbed area of the Schweizerland Mountains by skiing and hauling sleds across the icecap where they free- and aid-climbed on virgin rock including a grade 18/A2+ route on a shield-shaped peak they dubbed the 'Monolith'.
- Bolivia 2001 – ascents of several peaks up to 6462m in the Bolivian Andes, including a new route on 'Atoroma', a 5500m mountain in Bolivia.
- Aid-climbing in Australia – 'Ozymandias Direct' at Mt Buffalo, and 'Big Glassy Corner' in the Wolgan Valley (both with Chris Fitzgerald).
- Mountaineering in New Zealand – they have spent many seasons (both summer and winter) mountaineering and climbing in the Southern Alps.
- Rock climbing – they have rock climbed extensively in Australia and overseas, and have developed a climbing crag in south-eastern NSW.
Their adventures have provided entertainment in print, video and talks – Gemma enjoys writing, and several of her articles have appeared in climbing magazines and newsletters. She has also given talks on some of their trips including a presentation on their Greenland expedition at the 2007 Australian Climbing Festival. Natasha prefers a more visual form of expression and is a keen photographer and videographer. She has no qualms about taking her load of cameras up steep mountains or big walls to capture the essence of the experience. One of Natasha's short films won the encouragement award at the 2005 'In the Bin – Board Shorts' short-film festival in Currumbin, Queensland, which also toured Australia in 2006.
http://web.me.com/nunataks/Woldendorp_Sebire/India_2008/India_2008.html
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